About Me

Thursday, November 18, 2010

OK, Ok. Maybe the Royals are not the center of your life as they are here in Old Blighty. The non-stop TV coverage is entertaining and campy to the extreme. Example headline: "Kate says, 'I Wills!!!'"

It's hard to watch this drivel without involuntarily conjuring the image of Kate Middleton as the new Weight Watchers mascot a few years down the road. But I feel that even if Kate and Wills continue the trend of royal disappointments, unlikely the country will finally give up on it all. It's just too darn fun - just ask Pam, she eats it up.

Meanwhile I'm convinced that the commoners are doing their best to exterminate me. So many close calls just trying to cross the street! Perhaps it's the angst engendered by the unending politeness expected of us all in daily life -- road rage being the one release.

The English drivers are the most wound-up in the world. And everyone is so intent on the rules --both following them and hoping to catch someone else not following them. Like a pedestrian crossing the road outside of a zebra crossing (see Abbey Road album cover). IDIOT! I'll teach you! (Increase pressure on accelerator, alter course for offender...)

Like all strange customs, one finally gets used to it (or in this case, dies). Until you venture to a normal country. Normal being just about anywhere other than the U.K.. For example, Simone and I were just in Cairo. Now the traffic there is insane: 19 Million people and cheap gas. But do they make a sport out of trying to kill pedestrians? Rather not.

About Cairo... We were there for Simone's soccer championships against the other top international schools in the EMEA region. I found the geographic setting, in the middle of bleak desert salvaged by the massive Nile, stunning and powerful. Between games I managed to sneak out for a bit of sightseeing. As forewarned, The Pyramids were smaller than expected:

Actually, it was truly a treat to finally see the Pyramids. I arrived early in the morning and, being alone, managed to get ahead of the armada of tour buses dumping their payloads. So I was able to wander around the archaeological site completely on my own. There is a large area near the pyramids littered with crudely excavated mastabas. Reminded me of the setting for the opening scene of The Exorcist.

It was actually quite dangerous, with gaping tomb shafts just waiting for the careless wanderer:

Down below, 5000 year stone images stand guard over the tomb:

The soccer went well too. ASL finished a white-knuckled third place, very respectable. The final game was a poetic finish for Simone's soccer career at ASL: they won against the well-supported host team (Cairo American College), Simone scored a key goal, was awarded MVP, and did not get hurt! What more could a soccer dad ask for?